17 April 2023
Sadli Damanik A.Md
Public Relations FH-USU: Monday (17/04/2023) The State Administration Law Student Association (IMAHARA) Faculty of Law, Universitas Sumatera Utara held a film review and discussion with a background in labor law entitled "Undocumented" by Watchdoc and the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union (SBMI) which was held at the USU Faculty of Law Moot Court Building. In this movie, a reality experienced by PMI during the Covid-19 pandemic is depicted. Data collection of Indonesian citizens affected by the covid-19 outbreak reached 70,445 people, 413 of whom died, some of the victims were Indonesian Migrant Workers abroad. The difficulty for unrecorded migrant workers is the difficulty of receiving assistance from the government, which does not apply the state's obligations that require assistance during a pandemic to migrant workers to be distributed as a whole.
The Dean of the Faculty of Law, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Dr. Mahmul Siregar, SH, M.Hum, in his opening remarks said "This film is important to be shown, because migrant workers should be considered as heroes of foreign exchange".
In response, IMAHARA also invited several speakers from various backgrounds to spark discussion on the film shown, including Dr. Agusmidah, SH, M.Hum as Vice Dean I FH USU as well as a lecturer in labor law, Ir. Abdul Haris Lubis, M.Si as Head of the Manpower Office of North Sumatra Province, Harold Harmonangan, SE from BP3MI Medan City, and also Yohanes Lature as a student representative.
Various cases of unprotected migrant workers still often occur as long as the level of law enforcement, governance, and guaranteed employment in the country with decent wages is a comprehensive challenge for efforts to protect Indonesian Migrant Workers. Not yet finished protecting migrant workers from the various aspects above, the world was shocked by the Corona Virus Disease 2019 outbreak or commonly abbreviated asCOVID-19. During the Covid-19 pandemic, migrant workers spread across various countries in the world became one of the unions that were severely affected.
The economy that has declined due to the pandemic has made PMIs not paid properly, not given proper food and shelter, laid off suddenly without severance pay, and employed without being paid at all. "The country is already fair, the proof is that there is Law Number 18 Year 2017 on the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers," explained Ir. Abdul Haris Lubis, M.Si as a discussion starter.
On the other hand, BP3MI Medan City represented by Harold Harmonangan, SE explained about how Indonesian people who want to work abroad should be able to register themselves procedurally, because the placement of PMI is avoided from acts of human trafficking, slavery and forced labor, "Through BP2MI and BP3MI documented PMI departure and placement are easier to protect, because work is a human right that must be upheld, respected and guaranteed enforcement by the state" Harold explained.
In addition to discussing the central roles of the Manpower Office and BP3MI in handling and protecting migrant workers as foreign exchange heroes, it was also explained that the One-Stop Integrated Service for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (LTSA-PPMI) in North Sumatra is expected to be formed to facilitate and provide services for people who want to work abroad.
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